Our residential projects incorporate some elements of public space transformation, unique retail activation, and public art. To further enhance the public realm and support community development, BUILD helped found and support a non-profit organization focused on financing and maintaining public spaces.
Oak Plaza
In a neighborhood rich in esteemed cultural, educational and civic institutions, Oak Plaza is envisioned as the “front porch” for San Francisco’s performing arts district. Located at the confluence of major transit routes—Market Street, Van Ness Avenue, Franklin Street and the Muni Metro underground—Oak Plaza will serve as an outdoor respite for the neighborhood’s daytime office workers, evening performance-goers and diners, and the thousands of new residents arriving in the next five to 10 years as a result of major residential construction in the area.
Eagle Plaza
Eagle Plaza will be a new public gathering space on 12th Street between Harrison and Bernice Streets in San Francisco’s Western SoMa neighborhood. It will transform an underutilized street into a well-cared-for green, safe and clean shared pedestrian way for relaxing, gathering and celebrating. Deriving its name from the SF Eagle, the adjacent renowned LGBTQ community bar, Eagle Plaza would create much-needed public open space that celebrates the area’s rich leather and LGBTQ cultural heritage. The plaza is designed as a “shared public way,” allowing slow, one-way vehicular access but prioritizing pedestrians and cyclists.
India Basin
Together with the India Basin Neighborhood Association (IBNA) and the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department (RPD), BUILD has embarked on a long journey to transform a semi-wild former gravel yard into a pedestrian-priority neighborhood, providing a wide range of active and passive uses and experiences – from the expansive wilds of the shoreline to the small-scale neighborhood plazas. The signature open space features of the project are the Big Green and Shoreline. Secondary gathering places are public nodes at the intersection of project sub-areas at the Cove Terrace, the Town Triangle, and The Beach.
Dogpatch Arts Plaza
The Dogpatch Arts Plaza (DAP) converted a dead-end street into an 8,000-square-foot arts-focused public pedestrian plaza at 19th and Indiana Streets in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. Inspired by the established arts and “maker” culture in the neighborhood, the plaza combines this industrial heritage with the neighborhood’s need for more event space to create an outdoor gallery for large-scale and industrial art. DAP combines the ideas of pocket plaza and outdoor gallery, creating a “third place” where neighbors and passersby can come together to engage with art and with each other
Linden Alley
Linden Alley is one of San Francisco’s most pioneering and celebrated “living alleys.” Once an unremarkable side street in the Hayes Valley neighborhood, Linden Alley is now a thriving pedestrian-oriented destination featuring seating, landscaping and local businesses such as Blue Bottle Coffee, Smitten Ice Cream and Dark Garden. Linden Alley has been hailed as a successful model for shared public spaces in the Bay Area and it is now a gathering place for locals, tourists and neighbors on a regular basis.
Fly Ranch
In 2009, the BUILD partners were introduced to Larry Harvey and his partners at the Burning Man Organization. Burning Man was in contract to acquire a 4,000-acre ranch in the Nevada desert on which they planned to move the annual Burning Man event as well as develop a desert art center. BUILD facilitated a transaction that allowed Burning Man to adjust its corporate structure, manage tax requirements, protect trademarks, establish a permanent office, and provide personal financial security for the six Burning Man partners. Real estate provided an elegant solution for these complex, multi-dimensional challenges, while preserving and honoring the basic precepts of Burning Man. We are proud of the part we played as advisors to Burning Man in establishing a clear path and solid foundation for everyone’s long-term benefit, including the event itself.